Internal Medicine residency at McMaster is a fast-paced program organized to build a strong skillset within the first year of training to serve as a solid platform for learning. Residents will care for a diverse population with a broad range of diseases. A by-product of our busy services is the tremendous clinical experience to be gained. To accommodate the impact of CBME and the PGY3 Royal College examinations, significant changes have been made to reduce the service load to protect teaching time and promote resident wellness.

Our program is structured with the goal of preparing residents for a gratifying career of their choosing. McMaster is a rich environment for learning and innovation in clinical practice, education, and research. Foundations for learning are solid and there are many opportunities for enrichment that are readily available to all residents. Some features of our program include:

Our expert faculty is strong, collegial, and committed to teach.

Our program is responsive to change. A time-sensitive approach is taken to respond to feedback from residents and faculty. A positive approach to new and innovative models of teaching will keep the program fresh and strong.

We are prepared. Rapid adaptation to a virtual curriculum and methods for residents to continue to learn and to retain credit for training during COVID-19 imposed quarantines and redeployment are in place. McMaster Postgraduate Medical Education responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by putting policies and procedures in place to protect the safety, wellness and educational mandate for all residents. The Internal Medicine Residency Program has a customized plan to accomplish the same goals within our own training program.

Our program has successfully made a transition for the two recent changes affecting our residents – Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) and the shift of the Internal Medicine Royal College Examination to the PGY3 year.

Our residents are valued as agents of change. Our program is highly resident-centred. Every committee is populated by resident members from all three years who stimulate important changes based on collective feedback from their cohorts.

Patient selection is diverse and varied. The Hamilton community serves over 1.5 million persons and draws from many surrounding communities to provide exemplary tertiary/quaternary care. A CTU is placed within each of the three teaching sites, and each of these facilities has been designated as a center of excellence for at least one of the medical subspecialties.

Graded responsibility is commensurate with a resident’s ability to demonstrate competence within a given task. The academic curriculum, workplace training opportunities, style of teaching and level of supervision are geared to match a resident’s stage of training. The curriculum and scheduled rotations are designed for PGY1 residents to acquire fundamental skills in acute care medicine early in training. Residents are prepared to assume the Senior Medical Resident (SMR) role on Day 1 of their PGY2 year.

A Competitive Block Elective Opportunity in Uganda is offered to 3 PGY2 residents per year. The elective is supervised by McMaster Internal Medicine faculty with interest in Global Health and who have developed close ties with the healthcare team at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.